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ODRAZ B92, Belgrade Daily News Service
Odraz B92 vesti (by 11 PM), December 9, 1996
e-mail: beograd@siicom.com URL: http://www.siicom.com/odrazb/
odrazb92@b92.opennet.org http://www.siicom.com/b92/
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All texts are Copyright 1996 Radio B92. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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NEWS BY 11 PM
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POLICE BRUTALITY: SIGN OF WHAT IS TO COME?
Several American newspapers today have given wide coverage to the
case of Dejan Bulatovic, the 21-year-old demonstrator who was
severely beaten while in police custody and subsequently sentenced
to 3 weeks in solitary confinement. Bulatovic, who suffers from
asthma, is now isolated in a cell whose windows are deliberately
left open to the cold winter air and is left to sleep on the
cell's cement floor, reports FoNet correspondent for ``Nasa
Borba'' Slobodan Pavlovic. ``The treatment of Bulatovic might well
herald that Milosevic is about to take a hard-line stand towards
the demonstrators,'' comments today's article in the ``Washington
Times,'' which goes on to add that Milosevic now has three options
to end the most severe crisis his regime has ever faced. The
article then lists as possible options the use of police and army
forces to forcibly quell the protests, the continuation of the
present waiting-game policy in the hope that the people will
finally tire of daily rallies and the brunt of winter cold they've
been facing day after day, or, the final alternative, the ceding
of its electoral victory to the opposition forces in the
expectation that their attempt to deal with the economic chaos
created by Milosevic's regime would actually backfire and turn the
opposition supporters against coalition Zajedno.
The announcement that the Belgrade Electoral Commission is shortly
to submit its appeal to the Federal Court as well as to the Office
of the District Attorney is seen in the light of the above
analysis. American press characterizes these moves as the latest
maneuver by which Milosevic hopes to test the endurance and the
determination of both his internal and international critics
before proceeding to take any steps that will actually resolve the
present stalemate in a crisis which, according to the NPR
(America's only public radio), has ``seriously unsettled the
Serbian dictator, while it has left the opposition forces only a
minuscule chance of resolving the situation without the support of
Serbian workers.''
BRUSSELS: NO TRADE CONCESSIONS FOR FR YUGOSLAVIA WITHOUT A
DEMOCRATIC SOLUTION
Tomorrow in Brussels, diplomatic representatives of NATO will be
reviewing the recent developments in Bosnia and neighboring
countries, announced a high NATO official: in this context, the
current situation in Serbia will certainly be given major
attention (FoNet report by Mirko Klarin, correspondent for ``Nasa
Borba''). At today's briefing in Brussels, the same NATO spokesman
also reiterated that ``Serbia is a key player in this region and
how the situation in Belgrade develops can have significant
ramifications on this part of the world in general. Of course, we
shall do everything to keep the Dayton accord in place and we will
also insist that the obligations stipulated by the Dayton accord
be fulfilled by all the signatories to that agreement.''
The events in Serbia were also a topic at the press conference
held today at the Brussels headquarters of the European
Commission. A spokesman for the Commission issued a statement in
which the members of EC strongly insist on the necessity for a
democratic solution to the problems in Serbia, adding that FR
Yugoslavia will not be granted any trade concessions until there
is a democratic way out of the present crisis. The EC and its
member states are maintaining steady contact with the authorities
in Belgrade as well as with the other parties in the evolving
situation in an effort to find a democratic solution to the crisis
in Serbia.
TODAY'S PROTESTS IN SERBIA
Protest rallies organized by coalition Zajedno were held today in
Nis, Pirot, Krusevac, Kraljevo, Kragujevac, Jagodina, Pancevo and
Veliko Gradiste.
Radio B92 has received reports from Zajedno that the about 25,000
citizens protesting in Nis gathered at the Liberation Square, and
then, after the customary walk-about, stopped in front of the
city's TV station to express their disapproval of its reporting on
the events by a salvo of firecrackers.
In Pirot, Radio B92 has learned from Milan Ilic, member of
coalition Zajedno, that the protest meetings are scheduled to go
on until December 23, and possibly beyond. If the results of Nov.
17 elections are not recognized by then, Ilic added, ``we shall
usher in the New Year out in the streets.''
The ruling party's manipulation of electoral results was also the
focus of today's protests in Krusevac. Radio B92 has learned that,
although the city's Electoral Committee has not yet ruled on the
25 objections lodged by the opposition Zajedno, the municipality
of Kragujevac has scheduled its official constitutive session for
tomorrow to debate the election of some 17 representatives to the
City Hall.
STUDENT PROTEST IN NIS
The city's School of Medicine was the gathering point for about
4,000 student demonstrators who came out for the ritual walk-about
in Nis today. The students carried red balloons to the building of
the Municipal Court, where they were burst in a sign of protest
against the political manipulation of the courts. The students of
Nis have also sent an open letter of protest to the Serbian
Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Interior, and to President
Slobodan Milosevic in which they take the authorities to task for
their complicity with the brutal police assault and subsequent
treatment of Dejan Bulatovic, a student who was severely beaten
while in police custody last Friday night. Tomorrow's walk-about
by the students of Nis is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m.
DJINDJIC ON RADIO B92
President of the Democratic Party Zoran Djindjic stated in the
interview he gave to Radio B92 today that coalition Zajedno will
not accept an eventual new round of local elections. ``It makes
absolutely no sense to hold yet another round of elections under
the same conditions we have had to deal with until now. We have no
guarantee whatsoever that those who committed fraud the last time
round would not steal our ballots once again.'' Djindjic also
announced that Zajedno will boycott the Federal Assembly, which is
due to hold its first session in its new constitution tomorrow.
The leader of DS feels that the situation has now reached its
boiling point and that the crisis cannot be solved before the
opposition has clearly spelled out the conditions under which it
would agree to participate in any elections as well as those under
which it will boycott them in the future. ``We have gained in
strength and we are at a point where we can tell the world: we
shall boycott the next elections, and this will remove all
legitimacy from them,'' said Djindjic.
According to the statements he made during the course of the
interview, the opposition will participate in any new elections
only under these conditions: that there is complete objectivity of
reporting by the state-owned media and full independence of the
media in general well ahead of the elections; there is a common
and binding consensus on the law governing the elections; and,
there are both international and other prior guarantees that the
results of the elections will be fully respected. Djindjic is also
confident that the sustained, non-violent course of public
protests is already exerting considerable pressure on the
authorities and that it is the one ``method [the opposition has]
to which they don't know how to respond. If we can keep this going
for some time longer, I believe that we will get some serious
democratic processes on a roll in Serbia. There isn't a single
remaining institution that belongs to the present system of
government which has come out clean in the events of the past few
weeks: not the state-controlled media, nor the courts, not even
the parliaments of this country. The head of the Assembly, the
head of state, all of them have failed the test,'' concluded the
leader of the Democratic Party.
THE FIRST COUPLE SPEAK OUT
Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic spent most of the day in
meetings with numerous heads of state industries in talks about
the projected construction of a trans-Yugoslav high-way, a project
expected to give a considerable boost to Serbia's badly ailing
economy. While the state-controlled media gave ample coverage of
Mr. Milosevic's speech about the scope and the expected economic
benefits of this project, Serbia's First Lady was also breaking
her silence with the accusations she hurled at opposition Zajedno
in a speech she gave in Zagubica today.
Mira Markovic, wife of President Milosevic and herself leader of
coalition JUL [the United Left of Yugoslavia], commented on the
3-week-long opposition protests thus: ``At this moment, in
Belgrade and in some other large urban centers in Serbia,
supporters of that part of the opposition which is disgruntled
with the results of the recent elections have taken recourse to
the kind of protest and the kind of violence which they have
already used in the past.'' Mira Markovic then reminded her
audience of the events of March 9 and the Vidovdan celebration [a
traditional Serbian holiday], which she characterized as the days
``the first victims fell.'' According to her, ``the capital city
was practically destroyed'' on those two occasions in the past 6
years and today ``Belgrade is facing the danger of even more
extensive material damage and even more brutal trauma than it has
seen in the last 50 years.'' The leader of JUL concluded her
speech by saying that the Yugoslav left stand for peace and
against all forms of violence.
JUL ACCUSES COALITION ZAJEDNO OF ``TERRORISM''
The Belgrade board of JUL [the United Left of Yugoslavia]
condemned opposition coalition Zajedno of using street
demonstrations ``to inflict violence and terrorism on the
citizens'' of Belgrade.
IN OTHER NEWS
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NO CHANGES IN THE SLOVENIAN ELECTORAL SYSTEM
None of the three proposals for a reform of the electoral system
in Slovenia has won a majority of votes in yesterday's referendum,
reports SFP. The first unofficial results announced in Ljubljana
indicate that the present proportional system of voting will
indeed remain in force.
RAILWAY STRIKE IN CROATIA GRINDS TO A HALT
The 13-day strike of Croatia's railway workers has for all intents
and purposes come to an end, reports FoNet correspondent Zarko
Modric. This morning the workers agreed to let a part of the
freight service resume its work; almost all passenger services
were fully operational at the end of last week as the railway
workers' union felt that it did not wish to inflict hardship on
the poorer segments of Croatian society, who are particularly
dependent on the railways.
VAN DEN BROEK ON TUDJMAN AND BLASKIC
AFP reports that the European Commissioner for Foreign Affairs,
Hans Van der Broek has expressed astonishment at the decision made
by the Croatian President Franjo Tudjman to give an order of merit
to Tihomir Blaskic, former Croatian general, who has been accused
of war crimes and is currently awaiting trial at the Hague
Tribunal. President Tudjman's decision, according to Mr. Van den
Broek's press representative, ``does not accord with the spirit of
the Dayton agreement.''
Prepared by: Aleksandra Scepanovic
Edited by: Vaska Andjelkovic (Tumir)
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ODRAZ B92, Belgrade Daily News Service
e-mail: beograd@siicom.com URL: http://www.siicom.com/odrazb/
odrazb92@b92.opennet.org http://www.siicom.com/b92/
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